Skip to main content

MY SOUL SETTLES BY THE SEA by Mary McManus



 Last summer I spent a lot of time at Carson Beach in South Boston.

I remember the first day it was low tide and I went to walk out to the water. There was what looked like pimples on the mud. Upon closer examination, I realized that they were baby snails - thousands and thousands of them. I didn't want to risk stepping on any one so I gingerly returned to my beach chair patiently -or initially not so patiently- waiting for the tide to come back in. As I sat, my first thought was that I was hot and wanted to go into the water. My feet were all muddy - yuck! Could the tide please hurry up and come back in? And I smiled and laughed warmly with myself. I felt so blessed that I could open my heart and Spirit to receive the gift of that moment.  I chose to use that time for a meditation.

At first blush, the snails looked like nothing more than pimples of mud. How quick we can be to dismiss and miss out on so much in the world because we allow appearances to deceive us. These beautiful vulnerable creatures were there as a sign from the Divine.

As a polio survivor in a long leg brace in first grade, I was dismissed and demeaned always chosen last believing that I was less than because of what happened to my body. No one saw the beauty that was still me. No one cherished or honored my Being just as I was. As I look back on it - wouldn't it have been magnificent if another child could have walked slowly by my side and together we could have taken the time to cherish the simple joys of nature. So much value is placed on running around, accomplishing, doing and we miss out on so much of life. We miss out on the time to just, sit and be in the moment.

Mother Nature taught me a wonderful lesson that day. It is so important to cherish and embrace all sentient beings.

Each flower, each animal and each person has so much to teach us when we open our hearts to the wonder of it all. Nature moves in her own pace and rhythm one that is untouched by the 'will' and desire of a human. Life becomes incredibly more peaceful, and wonder-filled once we surrender to what is; taking peace and comfort in knowing that all is exactly as it should be.
Photography by Catherine Ghosh (Paradise Island, Bahamas)
~
My Soul Settles By The Sea

Pimples
shell-less snails
finding their way through the muck and mire
one speed – slow – for these Divine creatures
vulnerable at low tide
living in the moment
no expectations
no wishing the tide would hurry up
bemoaning their fate.

Steadfast and sure
known mudfilled mission
wordless fearless world
knowing only how to be
basking in the sun.

Gentle breeze
my heart beats
synchs with nature's soundtrack
breathing fully
deeply
at a snail's pace
peace

my soul settles by the sea.
~
~This poem is from my Songs of Freedom: 
Poems From a Healing Odyssey Volume I: Elements of Healing~
(click here to purchase)

Photograph 'Paradise Island Sea' by Catherine Ghosh


Mary McManus poet, blogger, and yogini left her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 to heal her own life. During the dark night of her soul she began to express herself through poetry. Her pen became a divining rod for light, love, hope, possibility, health and wholeness. She began her journey of transformation and healing which took her to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and, in 2011, to her yoga mat. Mary holds a BS in Public Relations from Boston University and an MSW from Boston College. In January 2013 she will be a graduate of South Boston Yoga's 200 hour Body Awakening Teacher Training Program. Be sure to visit her website here and follow her inspirational blog here  To hear Mary read selections from “Songs of Freedom:Poems From a Healing Odyssey” visit her youtube channel here. Mary's books of poetry are available on Amazon here. 

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~ 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IMAGINE A WOMAN by Patricia Lynn Reilly

  This poem invites you to look upon yourself with loving kindness… Gazing at your own true reflection, you will discover that everything you have longed for “out there” is already within you! I invite you to love your creativity fiercely. Faithfully plant seeds, allowing under-the-ground dormant seasons, nurturing your creative garden with love and gratitude. In the fullness of time, the green growing things thrust forth from the ground. It's a faithful, trustworthy process. AND it takes time and patience.  Blessed is the fruit of your creative womb! I invite you to trust your vision of the world and express it. With wonder and delight, paint a picture, create a dance, write a book, and make up a song. To give expression to your creative impulses is as natural as your breathing. Create in your own language, imagery, and movement. Follow no script. Do not be limited by the customary way things have been expressed. Your creative intuition is original. Gather

THE JOURNEY by Mary Oliver

Today we honor Mary Oliver (1936-2019) and all the words she left behind. May they inspire you on your journey!  Excerpt from Mary Oliver’s book Long Life: Essays and Other Writings : "Poets must read and study... but, also, they must learn to tilt and whisper, shout, or dance, each in his or her own way, or we might just as well copy the old books. But, no, that would never do, for always the new self swimming around in the old world feels itself uniquely verbal.  And that is just the point: how the world, moist and bountiful, calls to each of us to make a new and serious response. That's the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning. 'Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?'" The Journey By Mary Oliver  One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice-- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug

STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou

Six years ago, I had the privilege of listening to Maya Angelou speak live on the value of poetry at the University of Florida. I share these reflections with you again today, in honor of her birthday.  I was relieved to get one of the last seats available for this rare event, having arrived at five for Maya Angelou ’s free speech at eight. The historically long line began with people settled into beach chairs in winter coats busying themselves on tablets, or eating sandwiches for dinner. As helicopters hovered above and newscasters below, I felt the excitement of realizing that thousands of people were gathering together to hear an eighty four year old black woman recite her poetry! Maya Angelou speaking at University of Florida on Feb. 27, 2013  When the curtain rose -after an overflow of hundreds were sent away- we lucky ones on the inside greeted Maya with a standing ovation, as she smiled sweetly, beginning her talk using metaphors from nature. Maya asked that we